Le Bonheur Sauvignon Blanc, Simonsberg Stellenbosch

Description

Le Bonheur Sauvignon Blanc is white wine made at the Le Bonheur Estate by winemaker Lauren Behrens.

This 163-hectare estate with the optimistic name of Le Bonheur (“Happiness”) is situated along the slopes of the Klapmuts Hill in the northern reaches of the Simonsberg Mountain, in the Stellenbosch Wine of Origin district. Klapmuts is the old Dutch word for the 18th century cocked hat that folded away into the saddle back pocket and, indeed, when observed from a distance, the hill resembles such a hat. Le Bonheur has an enviable terroir. Most of the 65 hectares of vineyards face north, while a few face east and south-east. The vineyards are situated at different altitudes from 200 to 350 metres above sea-level, and each has its own, unique soil characteristics. There are four basic soil types at Le Bonheur: decomposed granite, red loam, sand, and sand over pot clay.

The bunches for Le Bonheur Sauvignon Blanc are carefully picked by hand and placed in small baskets to prevent the fruit from bruising. The grapes are then hand-sorted, and only bunches passing exacting scrutiny are selected for fermentation. The reason is simple : “If the best French chateaux take the trouble to sort their grapes, so can we.” Once the grapes have been crushed, they are cooled and fermentated between 12° and 14° C over 2 weeks. There was no skin contact. The wine was left on the lees for 6 months to concentrate the flavours.

Winemaker Lauren Snyman had previously been assistant winemaker at Neethlingshof for six and a half years. She took over from winemaker Sakkie Kotze, who had previously been winemaker at Le Bonheur since 1993, on his retirement.